assignments + projects
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June 06, 2014

Check out the lastest issue of ESPN's magazine on the World Cup. I traveled to Sao Paulo to find this residential street covered in Brazil's national colors to photograph the preview. Gabriel, pictured, here, was my main soccer star. He eventually got hurt (tough kid!) but bounced back quickly, waving his country's flag and kicking the ball. If he saw this picture, it would have made up some old game wounds :0)

I made my first trip to Buzios alone - the one time sleepy fishing village where Brigitte Bardot escaped to in the 1960s turned chiquey vacation getaway for honeymooners - but I was lucky to meet all some of the wonderful local Buzio's characters that made this a memorable assignment for Hemispheres Magazine.

April 14, 2014

Chile's oldest women's magazine featured an interview of Major Pricilla de Oliveira Azevedo, who now leads the Pacification Police Unit in Rocinha, Brazil's largest single favela. She was appointed "after a political fall-out from the arrest of her predecessor and 12 other officers, who were charged with the murder of resident Amarildo de Souza, a bricklayer who was last seen at police headquarters being interrogated with electric shocks and asphyxiation." (see guardian story)

This portrait was taken of her in Favela Santa Marta, the first favela pacified in the city of Rio, where she first led the UPP unit.

April 05, 2014

Wonderfully written story on Undercover Rio by my colleague Taylor Barnes featuring Rio's historical neighborhoods and off the beaten path places to explore (and some of my favorites as well)! It was a fun journey photographing this assignment. The Portuguese festa was a blast, even though the pictures didn't make the cut. And Rio Antigo is full of hidden gems.

February 18, 2014

A little late for Dia dos Namorados, or Valentines Day, though I'm not one who celebrates, but i love these images of my friends Ale and Patxi, two journalists who spent just over three months working in Rio. I also love film, and shooting with my old film camera.

February 14, 2014

Former model "Helena Rizzo first met her partner Daniel Redondo when they were both working in a prestigious Spanish restaurant. Having returned to her native Brazil, the couple now runs one of São Paulo’s best restaurants."

"Having gone from poverty to parliament via Big Brother and Brazil's first gay-rights election platform, Jean Wyllys must rank among the most postmodern of politicians."

"Inês Ferreira de Abril's position in the community where she lives and works is halfway between guru and local hero. Walking through the tight red-brick maze of the Borel-Indiana favela, a poor settlement of some 20,000 just a 10-minute cab ride from Rio's Maracana Stadium, she is stopped every five minutes by well-wishers and those seeking advice."

"Major Pricilla – as she is best known – is the friendly, positive face of the pacification programme that she has helped to spearhead. She is in charge of hundreds of officers in one of the most violent police forces on the planet and is playing a prominent role in trying to shift perceptions of their tole."

January 21, 2014

Last October I was assigned by the Washington Post for a story on the ethanol facilities, including the sugarcane farms that blanket miles and miles of bright red soil in the state of Goias, Brazil. Long gone are the back breaking manual labor, these days the major ethanol corporations use machines to cut sugarcane, operated by some of the same men who once cut the stalks by hand.

It was exciting to receive a request from ESPN Magazine for two images in their latest issue and story about the protests in Brazil last June. Here's the backstory to this lede image:

A man reported to be a plainclothes police officer throws his gun into a bonfire in the street near the state assembly building, during a protest, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, June 17, 2013. He said, "To serve a State like this? I am ashamed. I am ashamed of everything we go through, everyday."

January 15, 2014

Very honored that this story on the forced eviction of one favela in Rio de Janeiro was published on the new National Geographic blog, called, Proof. (please click on Proof to see story)

Residents of Largo do Tanque were forced from their homes in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone, to make room for the Transcarioca Highway, that will eventually be built to accommodate the 2016 Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013.

In less than 2 weeks, 54 houses were demolished. The City advisor responsible for payment compensation, told residents not to speak with one another or seek legal advice otherwise he would reduce settlement offers. Many residents agreed to compensations, around R$7000 (US$3500), not nearly enough to afford to buy a plot of land.

According to the Brazilian Constitution, residents have legal rights to their homes, while compensation should allow them to attain an equal situation elsewhere.

The West Zone, located west of downtown and beach neighborhoods is often overlooked and is widely known to be run by militia groups, who are former and current police and firefighter personnel that run extortion rings to monopolies.

This photo essay documents one day in the life of an eviction to show how fleeting a home can be.

December 22, 2013

I just received this clip and so stoked to see so many pictures from a really fun assignment. I also discovered two great venues from this story that I now regularly visit. Click on the link to read more about music in Rio de Janeiro.